Kodak EasyShare C433 Digital Camera Review

Model Design / Appearance (6.5)
This camera isn’t going to win any design awards and it certainly falls short of Kodak’s more stylish – and expensive - offerings that were revealed earlier this year. The Kodak EasyShare C433 is a functional no-frills point-and-shoot camera and this is immediately reflected in the physical design. The camera body is a thick, blocky and unfettered piece of molded plastic. Large, minimal, and simple controls are well labeled and are hard to overlook during shooting. The lack of planes, surfaces and other accoutrements found on models by other manufacturers make this camera a novice user’s best friend. If outcome is more important than looks and you’re purchasing on a budget, the Kodak C433 is definitely a good option for you. If style and personal image is more important than image quality, may we suggest a Minox DC1011, a modest little camera encrusted with both gold and diamonds.

Size / Portability (6.0)
This camera fits in a jacket pocket without too much imposition but don’t expect to cram this into a pants pocket: It is impossible, trust me. The boxy design and thick body will make it impossible to forget this camera when carrying it in hand. The camera measures 3.6 inches in width, 2.7 inches in height, and 1.4 inches in depth. For longer trips and carrying lengths, the wrist-strap eyelet or an optional carrying case for stowing would be advisable with this camera. A surprising specification is the actual weight of the camera. Although rather large, the camera itself weighs a rather lightweight 4.6 ounces without two AA batteries or a memory card which add a marginal amount of additional heft.

Handling Ability (7.5)
The thickness of the camera body and its overall size make it friendly for users with larger hands or conditions like arthritis which could make grasping smaller and slicker point-and-shoot cameras nearly impossible. A vertical grip on the front of the camera helped when shooting with one hand and eight raised dots on the back of the camera provide a nominal amount of additional grip for the thumb of the right hand.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (7.25) 
The controls on the Kodak EasyShare C344 are better - in terms of size, labeling and simplicity of interface - than many point-and-shoot cameras on the market. This is always a design area where Kodak excels and the C344 is no exception, with the camera's stripped down simplicity offering a great introduction for novice users. The only problem with the controls came in their actual employment when the four-way control tended to be sticky and cumbersome, and the clacking of the mode dial and motion seemed more appropriate for a children’s toy than a digital camera. Because of the sticky four-way control, quick movement through the menu structure was largely impossible without concentration on the part of the photographer. This aside, the utter minimum of controls, their large size, accurate placement and proper labeling make the external interface of the C433 a great option for tentative or novice photographers as well as those with physical impediments or larger hands.

Menu (7.0)
The menu system found with the Kodak EasyShare C433 is quite user friendly. The menus feature a light blue background with a dark blue header while selected sub-menu parameters are displayed with a golden bar. Accessing any of the following menu structures can be accomplished by pressing the well-labeled Menu button on the back of the camera body. The menu system is navigated by pressing the up and down arrows on the four-way control. The only overall problem with the menus isn’t actually the menus, but it’s the cheap four-way control that slowed down navigation speed with its clunky interface and clacking on/off.

It would have been nice for Kodak to outfit this lower-priced model with a live view when making adjustments to manual settings in shooting mode. As it is, users will need to guess as to which white balance, exposure compensation level, ISO speed and long time exposure setting should be used when photographing. If an incorrect setting is selected, it will necessitate the user re-entering and re-adjusting each parameter in a process that while simple, isn’t all that quick.

The setup menu can be accessed by the user whether they are in shooting, scene, movie, or review modes with each mode bringing up the same menu structure. Each mode lists the setup menu as the last selectable option and with a bit of time, photographers may find that it is easier to merely press the up arrow when the initial menu is opened. This skips the unnecessary navigation of one menu just to enter the setup menu. 

Setup Menu
Return	return to shooting, scene, video and playback menus
Camera Sounds	all on, shutter only, all off
Auto Power Off	10 minutes, 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 1 minute
Date & Time	YYYY/MM/DD HH-MM
Date Stamp	Off, YYYY MM DD, MM DD YYYY, DD MM YYYY
Video Date Display	None, YYYY MM DD, MM/DD/YYYY, DD MM YYYY, YYYY MM DD HH-MM, MM DD YYYY HH-MM, DD MM YYYY HH-MM,
Language	twenty language options
Format	memory card, cancel, internal memory
About	Firmware version

Playback Menu
Album	opens pre-named albums (naming must occur on computer and then be transferred to camera)
Crop	rectangular display, proportions and position determined through zoom and four-way control
Slide Show	begin show, exit, interval (adjustable in seconds, loop off/on)
Multi-up	nine frame multi-up thumbnail view
Copy	picture, exit, all
Protect	on, off
Image Storage	auto, internal memory
Picture/Video Information	general picture info (no histogram)
Setup Menu	opens setup menu structure